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Supercentenarian
A supercentenarian (sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian) is someone who has lived to or passed his/her 110th birthday. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Incidence There are estimated to be 200–350 living supercentenarians in the world, though only about 60 individual verified cases (living supercentenarians) are known.Validated living supercentenarians A study conducted in 2010 showed that the countries with the most known supercentenarians (living and dead, in order of total) were the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy.The 2010 study of countries with most supercentenarians The first verified supercentenarians in human history died in the late 19th century. Until the 1980s, the oldest age attained by supercentenarians was 115, but this has now been surpassed. To date, there are 9 undisputed cases of people (one man and eight women) who have lived to 116 years of age or older. The oldest verified person ever is Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122 years, 164 days. The oldest living person as of is Susannah Mushatt Jones, aged . Etymology The term "supercentenarian" has been in existence since at least the 1970s (Norris McWhirter, editor of Guinness World Records, used the word in correspondence with age claims researcher A. Ross Eckler, Jr. in 1976), and was further popularised in 1991 by William Strauss and Neil Howe in their book entitled Generations. Early references tend to mean simply "someone well over 100", but the 110-and-over cutoff is the accepted criterion of demographers. In the 19th century, the term "ultracentenarian" was used to describe someone well over 100, the cutoff being age 110. History While claims of extreme age have persisted from the earliest times in history, the earliest supercentenarian accepted by Guinness World Records is Dutchman Thomas Peters (reportedly 1745–1857). Scholars such as French demographer Jean-Marie Robine, however, consider Geert Adriaans Boomgaard, also of the Netherlands, who turned 110 in 1898, to be the first verifiable case, as the alleged evidence for Peters has apparently been lost. The evidence for the 112 years of Englishman William Hiseland (reportedly 1620–1733) does not meet the standards required by Guinness World Records. Norwegian Church records, the accuracy of which is subject to dispute, also show what appear to be several supercentenarians who lived in the south-central part of present-day Norway during the 16th and 17th centuries, including Johannes Torpe (1549–1664), and Knud Erlandson Etun (1659–1770), both residents of Valdres, Oppland, Norway. In 1902, Margaret Ann Neve became the first verified female supercentenarian. If the case of Peters is discounted, then the first fully documented 111th birthdays were celebrated in New York State in 1926, first by Louisa Thiers, and then Delina Filkins of Herkimer County. Filkins later became the first person to reach 112, as well as 113. In 1959, the Guinness World Records accepted the claim of Martha Graham as the first ever 114-year-old. The Social Security Administration recognizes Mathew Beard as having attained the same age in 1984, but the only fully validated case is that of Augusta Holtz, who was born 3 August 1871 and turned 114 in 1985. Holtz was also the first verified human to live to 115 years of age. Carrie C. White had been recognized by Guinness World Records to have reached the age of 116. Because the claim is insecure, scholars believe it is possible that this milestone may have been first achieved by Jeanne Calment. Calment was also the first verified person to reach the ages of 117 to 122. She died aged 122 years, 164 days – the longest human lifespan documented. The next oldest person whose age is documented beyond reasonable doubt was Sarah Knauss, who died in 1999 at the age of 119 years, 97 days. The ever recorded is Jiroemon Kimura of Japan, who died in 2013 aged 116 years and 54 days. The largest number of verified living people aged 115 or over at the same time is five; this has happened once: *From 16 August 1997 to 21 November 1997 Marie-Louise Meilleur, Sarah Knauss, Maggie Barnes, Mary Ann Rhodes and Christian Mortensen were all living at the age of 115 or more. The largest number of verified living people aged 116 or over at the same time is three; this has also happened once: *From 24 September 1996 to 4 August 1997 Jeanne Calment, Marie-Louise Meilleur and Sarah Knauss were all living at the age of 116 or more. The longest period of time where there have been no known living supercentenarians in the world (since the first verifiable case in the late 19th century) occurred between 14 October 1932, when Katherine Plunket died, and 20 August 1952, when Betsy Baker turned 110 – a period of nearly 20 years. The first known supercentenarian who lived in three different centuries was the first ever verified female supercentenarian, Margaret Ann Neve (1792–1903). Neve was the only supercentenarian born in the 18th century who is known to have lived into the 20th century. This is contrasted with the hundreds of verified supercentenarians who have lived from the 19th century into the 21st century. Over 2,500 supercentenarians have been documented in history.See list in It is likely that more have lived, but the majority of claims to have lived to this age do not have sufficient documentary support to be validated. This is slowly changing as those born after birth registration was standardized in more countries and parts of countries attain supercentenarian age. Verified supercentenarians over 115 years old References External links *Gerontology Wiki *Gerontology Research Group *International Database on Longevity *Supercentenarian Research Foundation *New England Supercentenarian Study Category:Supercentenarians Category:Ageing Category:Senescence